My work is a continuous search for variable human behavior in the face of change and emotional instability.

Describe your artistic medium and your point of view as an artist:

I always start a project with a concept, then take it through a series of processes. In fact, I love being in the middle of things, seeing something as it is “in the now” and knowing it will soon be something else. For that reason, I try not to define my limits or remain confined to one technique or medium.

I work mainly in a dark room, using cards with overlapping emulsified acid. I also enjoying working with paper, instead of cotton, to create sculptures and sometimes installations.

I am obsessed with cameras and find video a very interesting medium. In fact, I took my first pictures at age 11 and have never stopped.

Life is a series of processes—happenings, meetings, connections–and I can’t help but respond to this eternal evolution. I like this feeling of change and movement; this freedom moves me.

How does where you live effect your work and artistic expression?

The most important centers of art are obviously New York, London, Beijing …but you can’t rule out the Swiss German centers: Basel and Zurich. Everything I create is here in Switzerland, but it’s important to send my work to places like New York and London. This is how your work will be seen on an international level.

What are you working on right now?

I am finishing a project based on the theory of French philosopher and psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan on the “Absence of Being” called Beancée. According to Lacan, every human being is complete only when it is still bound to the mother. After cutting the umbilical cord, every human being will go a lifetime trying to fill that void, that absence of the direct connection to their mother, to be complete. In addition, I am working on a project inspired by Anais Nin and a photography project on Swiss territory.

More about Valentina…

Valentina De’ Mathà was born in Italy in 1981. She was fascinated by art an early age and went on to study at the Science of Fashion and Costume at the University of Rome, “La Sapieza.” She also studied screenwriting and museum curation in Italy and etching in Switzerland. After school, she lived in Rome and worked briefly as an assistant for an internationally-renowned artist. Currently, she lives and works in Switzerland. Her credits include international publications: Idomenée Magazine, Clam Magazine, Flash Art, Variation, and Inside, as well as several catalogs and exhibitions: Ápeiron , curated by Fabio Migliorati, critical texts by Fabio Migliorati and Matilde Puleo, NAG Contemporary Editions, 2009. She is a “Premio Terna 02” finalist, curated by Gianluca Marziani and Cristiana Collu.